1979 - Show Boat

Taking place over fifty years, Show Boat tells the story of a family of performers living on a show boat, and their struggles with gambling, race, infidelity, and poverty. In the beginning of the show, Captain Andy runs extremely successful performances aboard his ship, called The Cotton Blossom. Unfortunately, after it is discovered that his leading lady, Julie, has African-American heritage, she and her leading-man boyfriend are forced to quit the show. As a replacement, Captain Andy employs his daughter, Magnolia, and a young gambler, Gaylord Ravenal as the new stars. Magnolia and Gaylord soon fall in love, but they must struggle against poverty and Gaylord’s habitual infidelity. When Magnolia gets pregnant, Gaylord deserts her in Chicago. It is only years later that Gaylord meets his now-grown daughter, and finally reconciles with Magnolia. Spanning three generations of hope and heartbreak, Show Boat has established itself as an essential contribution to the American musical theatre canon.

1979 - Lights, Camera, Action

Director: Rhonda Daverne
Musical Director: Alex Wiltshire

1979 - Trial By Jury

Can you sue someone for breaking off an engagement? In Gilbert and Sullivan’s courtroom farce Trial by Jury, it’s a very serious crime! The fickle and bigoted defendant, Edwin, has fallen in love with another woman and has jilted the plaintiff, the beautiful Angelina. Unfortunately for Edwin, all the members of the jury (and the judge) have fallen for Angelina themselves. Edwin proposes that in order to solve the conflict, he “marry this lady today and the other tomorrow,” which, naturally, Angelina objects to. Ultimately, the resolution that pleases everyone is for the judge to marry Angelina himself! This delightfully ludicrous one-act was initially written as a companion piece to Offenbach’s comic opera La Périchole, but quickly outran it in popularity and critical praise. It is often performed as a double or triple bill with other comic pieces, but it is just as often performed alone. Hailed by theatre scholar Kurt Gänzl as “probably the most successful British one-act operetta of all time,” Trial by Jury is a bite-sized portion of Gilbert and Sullivan’s signature witty lyrics, catchy tunes, and ridiculous plotlines.

1979 - H.M.S. Pinafore

Since its premiere in 1878, Gilbert and Sullivan’s wildly popular operetta H.M.S. Pinafore has delighted audiences with a nautically-tinged story of star-crossed lovers. The gentlemanly Captain Corcoran of the good ship Pinafore has a daughter, Josephine, who is in love with a lowly but gallant sailor named Ralph Rackstraw. The Captain forbids the marriage, wanting to match Josephine instead with the well-bred Sir Joseph, First Lord of the Admiralty. In the meantime, the Captain finds himself in nearly the same position as his daughter: his former nanny, Little Buttercup, falls in love with him, but he hesitates to reciprocate due to his higher social rank. The whole situation is turned on its head when Little Buttercup reveals a game-changing secret she has kept for decades. A rollicking farce with endearing characters, memorable tunes, and a hilariously happy ending, H.MS Pinafore is a classic, time-tested delight not to be missed.

1978 - Annie, Get Your Gun

Rough-and-tumble Annie Oakley is the best shot around. A backwoods gal, Annie uses her skill to support her family by selling the game she hunts. When she’s discovered by Buffalo Bill and persuaded to join his Wild West Show, Annie is plucked from obscurity and becomes the toast of Europe. Annie meets her match in Frank Butler, Buffalo Bill’s leading man and star marksman. She falls head over heels for Frank, but soon eclipses him as the main attraction in the show. Her success with a gun makes trouble for Annie’s chance at romance. Annie Get Your Gun follows the journey of Annie and Frank, revealing their competitive natures as they vie for best shot – and each other’s hearts. This fictionalized version of the life of real-life sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her romance with Frank Butler boasts a score of Irving Berlin gems including “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “I Got Lost in His Arms”, “I Got the Sun in the Mornin’”, “Anything You Can Do,” and “They Say It’s Wonderful.”

1978 - The Fantasticks

The PumphouseJuly 19th – July 29th 1978

Director: Bill O’Meara
Choreographer: Rhonda Daverne

Synopsis:

Whimsical, poignant, and romantic, The Fantasticks is an allegorical story that focuses on two young lovers, their meddling fathers, and the journey we all must take through adolescent thrills, the growing pains of hurt and betrayal, the highs of passion, the challenges of distance, and the agonies of heartbreak to discover how to truly love. In a theatrical and inventive fashion, our gallant and enigmatic narrator–El Gallo–introduces us to a pair of young lovers, Matt and Luisa, who experience the magical, moonlit phase of falling in love. For a time, romance seems perpetually exciting, and heroics seem always to save the day. However, El Gallo leads our young protagonists from the romantic moonlight into the harsh sunshine, where the weaknesses in their relationship are exposed and the reality of the struggles and heartache love brings is revealed. With the understanding that “without a hurt the heart is hollow,” Matt and Luisa manage to find their own identities, and in turn, to discover their strengths as a couple in times of both darkness and light. With the record for the longest American theatrical run, The Fantasticks is a gem of the American musical theatre. Featuring timeless classics like “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” this simple and beautiful ensemble piece is as beloved and as timely as it was when it opened over 50 years ago.

1976 - The Pyjama Game

Romance is blossoming at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Handsome new Superintendent Sid Sorokin falls hard for feisty Union rep “Babe” Williams, and, despite her dismissal of all things love-related, it seems she’s falling right back. That is, until Sleep-Tite employees are refused a seven-and-a-half cent raise, and the pair find themselves on either side of the union protest that results. Based on Richard Bissel’s novel, 7 ½ cents, Adler and Ross’ Pajama Game portrays the ups and downs of romance, with the added heat of politics making the temperature extra hot. Babe and Sid must figure out how to love when the principles they value most are tearing them apart. First staged in 1954, The Pajama Game won three Tony awards, including best musical, and won another Tony for Best Revival in 2006, a testament to the fact that love, music, and politics are as hot as they ever were. The Pajama Game features hit songs including “Hey There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway” and “Steam Heat” which have also become pop standards that climbed as high as number one in the US charts.

1975 - West Side Story

Inspired by the timeless story of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story takes Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, and places them in the vibrant battleground of New York City’s West Side in the 1950s. In the midst of the deep-seated rivalry between the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, and the white gang, the Jets, Maria and Tony discover that ancient grudges are no match for true love. Their warring factions, however, refuse to back down, and the “rumbles”, romance, and resentment lead the bloody path to the lovers’ ultimate, tragic conclusion with soaring, sophisticated, and diverse melodies, energetic and athletic dance battles, and its remarkably salient social message, West Side Story remains one of American musical theatre’s most revolutionary and most loved treasures.

1974 - Hello Dolly

Jerry Herman’s energetic Hello, Dolly! is a musical filled with charisma and with heart. Matchmaker Dolly Levi is a widow, a matchmaker, and also a professional meddler –but everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is to find someone for herself. Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Hello Dolly! is boisterous and charming from start to finish. Hello, Dolly! features such memorable songs as “Before the Parade Passes By,” “It Only Takes a Moment,” “Put on Your Sunday Clothes,” and – of course – the title number, “Hello, Dolly!” Dolly herself is one of the strongest and richest starring roles for a woman ever written for the musical theatre, and famous Dolly Levis have included Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Pearl Bailey, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand, and most recently, Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters.

1973 - Belle of New York

THE BELLE OF NEW YORK, with music by Gustave Kerker, and book and lyrics by Hugh Morton and Charles McLellan, opened at the Casino Theatre, New York in 1889. Its sparkling music and the story with its slightly naughty touch, its gaiety and sentiment of the wealthy father, lchabod Bronson President of the Purity Brigade, with a weakness for pretty girls, and his son Harry, who like his father was always losing his heart to Cora, Angelique or Fifi. The beautiful, sweet and good Violet Carr, the Salvation Army girl who wins the devotion of Harry and becomes his true love. The decor, lovely costumes, the dancers and sets – ranging from Chinatown to a fabulous ballroom scene – were a wild success in Britain where it was first presented at the Shaftesbury Theatre with the whole American cast, including its star, Edna May. This was the first American importation into London, and after the Shaftesbury the “Belle” was never away from some theatre or the other – the Adelphi, the Lyceum’, Strand, Daly’s and the Garrick. The endearing tunes were hummed and whistled everywhere. These happily remembered songs will recall for many this delightful piece of theatre. The version being presented at present is a new version of the book and lyrics by Bernard Dunn and Emile Littler.

1973 - Amahl and the Night Visitors

“Amahl” was especially composed for television by Gian-Carlo Menotti and had its premiere in New York on 24th December 1951. This moving story of a Christmas miracle has a traditional Christmas theme, and is set in Judea at the time of the birth of Christ. Amahl, a young crippled boy, and his widowed mother, who live in a poverty-stricken cottage, are visited one night by the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem. The local shepherds and their wives come to the cottage with gifts for the infant Jesus, and Amahl gives his crutch, his only possession. Miraculously he is able to walk and run again, and the story ends with Amahl joining the Three Kings for the rest of their journey to Bethlehem.

1972 - The King and I

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I is a moving, radiant story of East meets West. It is the early 1860s when newly widowed Anna Leonowens and her son, Louis, set sail from their native England for Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand). Anna, still grieving, has set her sights on a new adventure and taken a position as the schoolteacher for the royal offspring of the King of Siam. The King is determined to usher Siam into the modern world, and he thinks Western education can be a part of that – yet, Anna is horrified at first by many of the traditions that he holds dear. Anna and the King struggle to find common ground. The King is largely considered to be a barbarian by rulers of the West, and he takes Anna on as an advisor, asking her to help change his image – if not his actual practice. With both keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values, Anna and the King teach each other about understanding, respect, and love that can transcend the greatest of differences. Beneath the fraught, fiercely opinionated, conflict-ridden surface of Anna and the King’s relationship lies one of the most unique love stories in the musical theatre canon.

1972 - Paint Your Wagon

After years of searching for gold out West, Ben Rumson and his young daughter, Jennifer, strike it rich. At the burial service of another miner, Jennifer discovers a gold nugget and Rumson Town is born. The strike encourages other miners to move to Rumson Town and a boomtown is formed. Meanwhile, Jennifer falls in love with a Mexican prospector, Julio Valveras. Accustomed to the complete lack of female presence in town, the men feel uncomfortable with Jennifer’s presence, so Ben sends her back East to school. When, a while later, she returns to the town unexpectedly, she discovers that Rumson Town has become a ghost town and Julio is gone. With determination and bravery, Jennifer seeks out Julio and is finally reunited with the man she loves. Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon is a story of determination and dreams, featuring songs including “I Talk to the Trees”, “Wandering’ Star” and the run-away hit, “They Call the Wind Maria”.

1971 - The Sound of Music

The final collaboration between Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, The Sound of Music, has become a play beloved around the world. Based on the true story of the Von Trapp Family Singers, this play captures a personal tale of growth and hope amidst the horrors of World War II. The Sound of Music tells the tale of young postulant Maria Rainer, whose free spirit has trouble fitting into the rules and regulations of Nonnberg Abbey. Commissioned by the Mother Abbess to serve as the governess for seven motherless children, Maria transforms the Von Trapp family home from a place of dour rules and regulations to one filled with joy, with laughter, and with music. In the process, Maria wins the hearts of all seven children–and their widower father, Captain Von Trapp. With the Mother Abbess’ blessing, and to the children’s delight, Maria follows her heart, and Maria and the Captain marry. Upon returning home from their honeymoon, Maria and the Captain learn that their beloved Austria has been taken over by the Nazis, and the retired Captain is asked to report for immediate service in the Nazi Navy. When the Nazis show up at their door to take Captain Von Trapp away, it is a family singing engagement (wily navigated by their friend Max) that buys the family time to make their narrow escape. Their Austrian convictions compel Maria, the Captain, and the children to flee over the mountains of Switzerland to safety, taking the words of the Mother Abbess to heart: “Climb Every Mountain… till you find your dream.”

1971 - The Desert Song

The action takes place in Morocco under French control. Pierre Birabeau, son of the Governor, considered by his fellow-countrymen to be something of a weakling and coward, has shown practical proof of his sympathy with the Riff cause, by secretly leading them on enterprises against the French authorities and earning, by his elusiveness, the name of ‘The Red Shadow’. He is in love with Margot who is visiting the Governor and Margot is attracted to him, but Paul Fontaine, whose duty it is to capture ‘The Red Shadow’, is also in love with her and Margot is in a state of indecision. A native girl, Azuri, is in love with Paul and this complicates the situation. The unravelling of the tangled skein of father unwittingly planning his son’s capture and death is sufficient to maintain interest throughout, and the presence of a journalist Bennie and Susan, the Governor’s ward, provides the humour necessary to highlight the serious action.

1970 - Carousel

Richard Rodgers once wrote that of all the musicals he wrote, Carousel was his personal favourite. This iconic American classic features some of the most powerful music ever written for the stage, including “If I Loved You”, “Mister Snow”, “June is Bustin Out All Over” and the iconic “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration, and was adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 play Lilliom. They transferred the Budapest setting of Lilliom to the New England coastline, where Carousel takes place. The story tells of charming, roguish carnival barker, Billy Bigelow, and mill worker Julie Jordan, both loners, who meet and fall in love. Their marriage ends up costing both their jobs, and things go downhill from there. Billy’s desperation makes him violent against those he loves most, and drives him to commit crimes in order to provide for his family. When Billy falls in with con-man Jigger Craigin, he ends up getting caught in the midst of an armed robbery and takes his own life. Billy is allowed to return to earth for one day fifteen years later, and he encounters the daughter he never knew. Louise is a lonely, friendless teenager, her father’s reputation having haunted her throughout her young life. How Billy instills in both the child and her mother a sense of hope and dignity is a dramatic testimony to love’s transcendence. Voted the best musical of the 20th century by Time Magazine, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Carousel is the classic American musical, spanning heaven and earth in its exploration of human frailty, resilience, and the power of forgiveness.

1970 - South Pacific

In this musical, which is considered by some to be the best of the Rodgers and Hammerstein productions, the writers were successful in their endeavour to reproduce the atmosphere of the time, something which many people today either were not old enough to experience or may have forgotten.

The story is played out against a background of the American forces in the Pacific experiencing a lull in their retreat before the advancing Japanese. The spirit, in many cases, was one of despair as is indicated in the song “Cockeyed Optimist”.

As the story proceeds, a tribute is paid to those men who were possibly the greatest heroes of all time, the coast-watchers. New Zealanders were numbered amongst these, just as New Zealand airmen, ships and sailors were amongst those who took part in the actions in this part of the Pacific.

The final note is one of optimism as the forces prepare to advance instead of retreating.

A light note is introduced by the “McHale’s Navy”-type characters: Billis, Stewpot, and Professor, whose war is one against poverty … their own! The two romances are clouded by racial prejudice, but one at least overcomes this handicap before the final curtain.